We had a GREAT time in sunny Florida last week. I'm still going through the pictures, but there are some fun ones! Most of the reason I haven't sorted through them (besides the mounds of laundry) is that I haven't been feeling all that great.
The day before we left for FL, I had my mammogram (which, if you're not on Facebook, turned out AWESOME!!!). Let me say that mammograms are not comfortable to begin with, but I wasn't even thinking that my port would bring that uncomfortableness to a whole new level! So the next day and all weekend, I felt like the area around my port was really sore. In fact, sharp shooting pain would come out of nowhere - you know the kind that tends to take your breath away and you start thinking something is really wrong? It just kept getting worse, but I really just thought it was from the port being pulled on and that it would go away once I had time to relax and wind down from vacation and sleep in my own bed.
Not so. By Tuesday I had this weird rash show up around my neckline on my left side. Brian thought it was poison ivy. I could not think of one instance where I had been anywhere near poison ivy. I thought at first it was an allergic reaction to the sunscreen from the day before, but that didn't make sense since it was only on one side of my neck. Then we thought maybe it was an allergic reaction to some bug bites that we got the night we got to Orlando. I didn't remember getting bit on my neck, but who knows? The rash and the pain persisted, but it wasn't enough to keep me away from all of our excursions (important places like the beach, visiting family, Universal Studios, the beach, etc.).
We stayed with Chris and Lynda on the way home. Chris is well experienced in poison ivy and confirmed that it definitely was not poison ivy. I started thinking maybe it was Rubella. I've been vaccinated for it 4 times and it hasn't been successful any one of them. I looked it up on my phone, but the symptoms really didn't match up.
This was Sunday. I was a total grouch. We had been in the car for close to 15 hours and I was done. I didn't feel good and everything was pushing my buttons. I'm pretty sure I yelled at the kids every time they opened their mouths. I knew as soon as I opened my mouth that I should just shut it. I apologized later. I just didn't feel good. By the time we got home and got unpacked, I felt achy all over. It was very Neulasta-like. I hadn't missed that feeling in the past 5 months and didn't care to feel it again. But that really wasn't my choice, huh?
I ended up taking some Nyquil just so that I could sleep. I couldn't get out of bed the next morning. Thank goodness Brian didn't have to go in till later that morning. When I finally did crawl out of my stupor, I called the nurse at my surgeon's office. She called back later to say that they didn't think it had anything to do with my port or my mammogram. So I got an appointment with my dermatologist for Tuesday morning.
"I hate to tell you this, but you have a case of the SHINGLES."
Huh? I thought only older people got that. Nope. Apparently, it's common in cancer patients because of their lowered immunity. Which I thought my immunity was pretty good since it's been 2 months since radiation ended, but I'm finding out that I'm wrong about that (first the never-ending cold/sinus/virus thing that lasted from December to February and now this).
Anyway, she said that it comes on due to stress or an illness. Hmmmmm. So the week before vacation was a bit stressful, and I think we all agree I've had a bit of an illness. Note to self: stress is BAD. Pray. Relax. Take care of yourself. Eat right. Exercise. Enjoy life.
So I have this lovely horse pill to take every meal to keep the shingles from spreading any more than it already has. I have pain meds to help me sleep (which I'm not sure I had enough of last night) and still just generally don't feel good but pretty functional. One of the icky parts is that I can't really be in close contact with other people. Especially kids or anyone with suppressed immune systems. Since I don't know who that might be, I've just been trying to lay low. I did sneak out to lunch and little window shopping with B this afternoon, but that wore me out and I napped the rest of the day.
Is it just me or does anyone else think there is something just funny about the word "shingles"? Not funny like, Tommy Tuberville or Shaka Star or any other fun sports names like that, but funny in a negative way. I don't really even like to say it. I may as well be saying "the plague" for some reason. That's what it seems to me. Maybe because you kind of have to quarantine yourself. I don't know. And they don't look like shingles one bit. I may have to consult my pharmacist about all of that.
No comments:
Post a Comment